Administrative Faculty
Administrative Staff
- Rose du Plessis – Administrative Assistant -Front Desk
- Val Thomas – Office Manager
Dr. Matt Blusewicz has been the Director of Counseling Services since September
2007. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of
Wisconsin (Madison) and his master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology
from the Pennsylvania State University (University Park). He is a board-certified
clinical psychologist (American Board of Professional Psychology) and a Fellow
of the American Psychological Association. In addition, he is a licensed
psychologist in Nevada and California and has been in part-time private practice
for much of his career, with particular interests in neuropsychology and
geropsychology.
Matt has held faculty appointments at the University of Nevada School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and Department of Psychology, the California State University (Long Beach), the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology (Pasadena), and the University of California, Davis School of Medicine (Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology).
Until his “retirement” a few years ago, Matt’s major career was with the Veterans Administration. For over 30 years he worked at the VA Medical Centers in Reno, Long Beach, California (Director of Neuropsychology), and Martinez/Sacramento, California (Chief Psychologist and Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health). He is very happy to be back in Reno and back on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. His goal is for Counseling Services to constantly improve services to students.
Patricia Chatham, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist. In addition
to working at the Counseling Services, she is an Associate Clinical Professor
of Behavioral Sciences and Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, School
of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno where she lectures to psychiatric residents. For 30 years,
she was a staff psychologist and a former director of the APA internship
program at the V.A. Sierra Nevada Health Care System of Clinics, Reno, Nevada.
She published a textbook, Treatment of the Borderline Personality Disorder,
and recently, a chapter in an edited book. She has lectured and done many
workshops on a variety of topics. She now works with college students on
various academic and interpersonal issues and the anxiety and depression
that frequently accompany them. She also has seen over 3,000 couples during
her career and enjoys working with couples. She teaches skill strategies
around test and public speaking anxiety, social shyness, assertiveness, anger
management, managing anxiety and depression, coping with difficult feelings,
and many other problem areas. In her leisure time she looks forward to nature
walks, travelling, attending music and art events, basketball games, and
socializing with her friends.
Yani Dickens, Ph.D. came to University of Nevada, Reno Counseling Services in September 2008 after completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services. Yani did his internship at the Utah State University Student Counseling Center’s APA-accredited professional psychology internship program, providing services to university students. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) APA-accredited doctoral program in 2007 after completing his dissertation, a sport psychology study on inner experience and golf performance. He received his Bachelor’s degree at University of Nevada, Reno.
Born and raised in Reno, a graduate of McQueen High School, Yani never forgot where he is from, even as a UNLV student. He rooted for University of Nevada, Reno in rivalry games with UNLV, and happily taunted his UNLV colleagues when University of Nevada, Reno won, blaming the officials in the rare instances in which they lost (of course).
Yani considers himself a generalist and enjoys working with university students with a variety of concerns including stress, anxiety, and depression. Although a generalist at heart, he has special interests in sport psychology, assessment, and diversity. Yani provides counseling to University of Nevada, Reno students, sport psychology consultations and counseling to athletes, and works on promoting diversity programming at University of Nevada, Reno.
Dr. Cindy Marczynski came to University of Nevada, Reno Counseling Services in June 2007, from
Washington State University Counseling Services, where she worked for the
previous ten years. Originally from the Midwest, Cindy has a B.S. degree
from Black Hills State College in Spearfish, SD, an M.A. from the University
of South Dakota, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Washington State
University.
In addition to previous specializations in clinical training and in testing and assessment, Cindy’s professional interests include working with grief and loss, anxiety-related disorders, and suicide prevention. She and her husband have both a son and a daughter currently in college. Cindy is especially enjoying the Reno area for its variety of activities involving snow, dirt, or water (but not mud). Not that she’s really phobic about mud, unless it’s really squishy…
Diane Moyle Phenix, MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (University of Nevada, 1994)
Picture coming soon
Diane completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees here at University of Nevada, Reno. Originally from the Northern California Coast she is an avid outdoors person who delights in exploring nature. Having a wide range of clinical experience with diverse individuals and groups in the San Francisco Bay Area and Reno Area her interests include: Multicultural issues, mental health/academic performance, holistic health, cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression and anxiety, grief and loss, coping with transitions, spirituality/mindfulness, LBGT, post-trauma issues, community resources/referral.
Jacqueline Pistorello is research faculty at Counseling Services, where she has worked with college students for over a decade. Dr. Pistorello is currently a Principal Investigator on two grants from the National Institute of Mental Health. One of these grants is a 5-year study investigating the impact of a first-year class on UNR freshmen in terms of Adjustment to College and Life (See www.A2C.unr.edu for more information or call 775-784-3533). The other grant, which is now ending, has studied the impact of an intensive (individual + group) therapy on the treatment of college students reporting emotion dysregulation. Dr. Pistorello has become nationally known for the application of two behavioral approaches (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy) towards the treatment of college students in particular.
Contact Information: pistorel@unr.edu
Phone: 775-784-3533
Garry grew up in the “east coast,” and moved to Nevada in 1974.He began
providing alcohol and other drug prevention, education, and treatment services
for University of Nevada, Reno and its students in 1979, and has been a part of Counseling Services
since 1989.He enjoys outdoor and athletic activities, and has a strong interest
in health and science. His counseling style is “integrated,” and it is his
intention to provide each student with a safe and confidential opportunity
to discuss her/his concerns in regards to alcohol and other drugs. He provides
Shernaaz Webster
Ph.D. Educational Psychology (University of California, Berkeley, 1988)
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (State of Nevada, 2000)
Shernaaz has been a therapist at Counseling Services since 2002. She has
broad counseling interests, including working with students from diverse
cultural backgrounds. Shernaaz herself is the product of many cultures. She
grew up in a small town in India, and first came to the US as a student in
1980. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley
in Educational Psychology, with a specialization in personality and stress
management. From Berkeley she moved to Cambridge, England where she taught
and counseled for six years. She moved to Reno in 1994 and since then has
been a frequent lecturer at the university for courses in Psychology. In
her free time, Shernaaz loves the outdoors, travel, photography, and cooking
gourmet health foods. She has experience and interests in stress management
and holistic health, ADD/ADHD, relationship and family issues, motivation
and personal growth, as well as expertise in diversity and intercultural
issues. Shernaaz uses an integrative approach that draws on eastern and western
perspectives in counseling, and believes in helping students to build on
their intrinsic strengths to reach their full potential both academically
and personally.
LATHA PAI, M.D.
Psychiatry Resident
Latha graduated from Seth G.S. Medical college, Mumbai, India. She has been a member of the Bay Area Critical incident stress management team and is certified in trauma communication & death notification. She has worked as a grief counselor for the Center for the Living with the dying in San Jose, CA. She has research experience at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. She is married to Deepak Kamath. Latha enjoys music, yoga & meditation, hiking , entertaining, cooking various cuisines & spending time with family & friends.
emergency numbers
- 911 (Emergency)
- 334-COPS (Non-Emergency)
- Crisis Call Hotline 784-8090
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
- Hope Line Network 1-800-784-2433
- After hours crisis cell phone (775) 544-0492
